The technical character of the present invention relates in general to applying a tire dressing material to tires of a vehicle in a carwash and pertains, more particularly, to a tire dressing apparatus located within the carwash. The tire dressing apparatus of this invention is an improvement over the conventional approach of applying the tire dressing fluid after the vehicle exits the carwash.
A technical problem recognized with respect to conventional methods of applying the tire dressing fluid relates to applying the tire dressing fluid manually after the vehicle exits an automatic portion of the carwash. The manual sprayers and pump bottles typically used to manually apply the tire dressing fluid tend to waste the tire dressing fluid and often do not provide sufficient coverage of the tire with the tire dressing fluid to obtain the desired result, that is, the look of a well-dressed tire.
Tire dressing is a feature commonly offered at automatic carwash facilities that finish the vehicle (e.g., manually dry the vehicle exterior, manually clean the vehicle interior) following the vehicle""s exit from the automatic portion of the carwash. The application of the tire dressing fluid (e.g., ARMORALL brand silicone spray or liquid) is desired by the vehicle""s owner for the shine it typically leaves on the outside facing surface of the vehicle""s tires.
Another technical problem associated with conventional tire dressing fluids relates to their chemical composition. The conventional chemicals used for tire dressing (e.g., silicone based chemicals) require a relatively clean tire for adhesion of the chemical to the tire surface and similarly a dry tire thereby preventing unwanted dilution of the chemical tire dressing fluid resulting in a surface without the characteristic dressed tire shine.
The conditions in a conventional carwash and the composition of tire dressing fluids usually require application of the tire dressing fluid or other similar protective or finishing chemicals immediately after cleaning. Application of the chemical to a dirty tire can result in insufficient adherence of the chemical to the tire thereby resulting in a finish unacceptable to the vehicle owner.
In anticipation of the tire dressing fluid industry developing a tire dressing compound that can be applied to a wet tire that passes through a conventional air drying portion of the carwash and still achieve the desired xe2x80x9cdressingxe2x80x9d effect on the tire, a need was perceived for a tire dressing apparatus including dispensing equipment suitable for applying the tire dressing fluid in a wet environment during the carwash and then conveying the vehicle through the air drying portion of the carwash without loosing so much of the tire dressing fluid that the desired dressed tire shine would not be achieved.
Previous attempts to solve these technical problems resulted in systems that operated on a principle that required the dispensing equipment to locate a vehicle tire, determine its size, physically track the tire through the tire dressing application portion of the carwash, and apply the tire dressing as the dispensing equipment moved along with the vehicle tires through the tire dressing portion of the carwash.
Application of a fluid (i.e., the tire dressing or other equivalent chemical or silicone composition) to the tire is preferably done during the carwash, however, a tire dressing fluid applied during the carwash must have the ability to wet the surface of an already wet tire and remain on the tire during the remainder of the carwash, including a drying portion of the carwash. Providing a single tire dressing apparatus capable of a applying the tire dressing fluid to tires of different sizes on vehicles of different sizes is another technical problem that has to be overcome, and it is a technical problem considered just as important and as challenging to overcome as any of the other technical problems discussed with respect to this invention.
The technical field of the invention is tire dressing fluid dispensing equipment and application of the tire dressing fluid in a desired pattern through a nozzle designed to distribute the tire dressing fluid and a tire dressing neutralizer onto the vehicle tire and floor of the carwash, respectively, as the vehicle""s tires move through the tire dressing application portion of the carwash. The technical problems addressed by the invention include locating a vehicle tire, adjusting the dispensing equipment to accommodate each particular tire size of each particular vehicle conveyed through the carwash, sensing the tire speed, and applying the tire dressing fluid and the neutralizer fluid in a desired amount and pattern as the vehicle""s tires pass or approach a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved tire dressing dispensing apparatus with fluid application control that responds to movement of the tires of a particular vehicle as the vehicle moves through the carwash. With the tire dispensing apparatus of this invention, the size of the vehicle""s tires are mechanically determined, a sensor or sensors determine the location of the vehicle""s front tire and the speed that the front tires (and thereby the speed of all of the tires) move through the tire dressing dispensing portion of the carwash in cooperation with a control system, the sensors also determine the location of the vehicle""s rear tires, and the control system integrates this information and logically determines the activation of the application and dispensing of the tire dressing fluid and the neutralizing fluid through nozzles selected for their designed distribution patterns and amounts of these fluids in a desired pattern and quantity.
Embodiments, including the technical features of the invention for which protection is sought, are illustrated and described herein and include a tire dressing apparatus, including an indexing system, an indexing system output member, an index system retention and return mechanism, a tire dressing application system, an indexable applicator with fluid distribution apparatus, an articulation mechanism, a truck and guidance system, and a control system.
The tire dressing apparatus is controlled by a carwash controller operated typically by an attendant at the carwash. The width of a vehicle entering the carwash is determined mechanically by an index arm, the identification of the vehicle selected for application of the tire dressing fluid to the vehicle""s tires, and a programmable logic controller controls a spraying sequence by controlling the time intervals between the activation of solenoids controlling fluid release through nozzles during each vehicle tire dressing cycle. The programmable logic controller includes sufficient memory to keep track of the vehicle in the carwash que or in the carwash in the event of some mechanical or electrical interruptions to the carwash operation. A unique nozzle design has been provided to obtain the desired fluid distribution and coverage on the vehicle tires.
These and other objects and features of the invention will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings.